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Thoughts: “Or” vs. “And”

The word “or” gives me the impression of only having two choices. Would you like this in red or blue? Do you want to eat sushi or pasta? Would you rather have a happy family or a successful career?

To some of these questions, I ask, “Why not both? Why not all?”

Why do I have to restrict myself to only be one thing? Why can’t I be smart and funny? Why can’t I have a family and a fulfilling job? Why do I have to choose to have only one thing? Why can’t I have it all?

In the words of Oprah:

You can have it all. Just not all at once.

There are many things I want in life, as I’m sure all of you do as well. We want to be healthy, financially stable, loved, accomplished, and many more things. We want to be happy and we want the people we care about to be happy. I truly believe that if we really strive towards these things, we will achieve them all – perhaps not right away, and perhaps not forever, but at some point in time, we can have it all.

I don’t think this is being greedy, and the idea that we can only receive one type of happiness in exchange for the loss of something else is a mindset that I try not to adopt. Other people can tell you what they think your limitations are, but it’s the ones you set for yourself that really stop you from getting more out of life.

It is okay to want many things for yourself. It is okay to care about a lot of things. Choose the word “and” instead of “or”. Strive towards balance and you can see for yourself just how much happiness you can have in your life.